Bishop Phillip H. Porter Jr. Celebrates 50 Years In Ministry

In 50 years as a pastor in Denver, Bishop Phillip H. Porter Jr. of All Nations Church of God in Christ has witnessed society’s breathtaking progress and devastating backslides.

As the 76-year-old pastor looks back, he wonders if he did enough to show young people how to live the Gospel.

“I wish we had poured a bit more into the coming generation — and wish we’d lived more ardently to influence their lives,” Porter told The Denver Post Tuesday.

Porter and his wife, Edgar Lee, celebrated his 50th anniversary in the church Thursday night at the Potter’s House of Denver.

“It’s said that the condition of the world is a report card of the church,” Porter told the Post. “I’d have to give the visible church a sad ‘C.’ “

Yet, he said, he sees new life in his Pentecostal denomination and others.

“The last 10 years I’ve seen a bevy of young ‘today’ ministers who are transforming ministry,” Porter said. “They have sound theology and hunger in their hearts, and the old things — like dress code and women in the ministry — they don’t seem to have as much difficulty with that.”